#westernus — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #westernus, aggregated by home.social.
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#HeatDome to broil #WesternUS ahead of North American #monsoon
A new heat dome is building in the United States this week. This time it will focus on the West first, then shift toward the Midwest. Storms associated with the #NorthAmericanMonsoon will follow the heat in the West.
By Alex Sosnowski, Jul 7, 2026
Excerpt: "As the heat wave crests over the interior West, an annual phenomenon will take place. Moisture will begin to trickle in from Mexico at first, then pick up more steam later this week to next week. A surge in humidity levels, along with a flip of the breeze from the west to the south, is known as the North American monsoon.
" 'There should be a slow propagation of thunderstorm activity from south to north over the interior West that should start with spotty activity at first then become somewhat more widespread by next week,' Pastelok said.
" 'Helping that activity will be an eastward shift of the high-pressure heat dome,' AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. 'The circulation around the high will help to pump moisture in more freely over much of the West beginning this weekend and more so next week.'
"Many of the early storms over the Southwest may bring little or no rain but gusty #winds and #lightning strikes. The gusty winds can kick up considerable amounts of #dust, creating large #DustStorms or #haboobs. Lightning strikes with no rain can set off scores of new #wildfires, while gusty winds around the storms can fan the new fires and existing large blazes.
"The nature of the heat dome will trap smoke in the region, which can reduce the visibility, create a hazy or milky-looking sky and create #AirQuality dangers for some individuals. "
#AQI #USWx #ClimateChange #Heatwave #Storms #WesternUS #ExtremeWeather
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#HeatDome to broil #WesternUS ahead of North American #monsoon
A new heat dome is building in the United States this week. This time it will focus on the West first, then shift toward the Midwest. Storms associated with the #NorthAmericanMonsoon will follow the heat in the West.
By Alex Sosnowski, Jul 7, 2026
Excerpt: "As the heat wave crests over the interior West, an annual phenomenon will take place. Moisture will begin to trickle in from Mexico at first, then pick up more steam later this week to next week. A surge in humidity levels, along with a flip of the breeze from the west to the south, is known as the North American monsoon.
" 'There should be a slow propagation of thunderstorm activity from south to north over the interior West that should start with spotty activity at first then become somewhat more widespread by next week,' Pastelok said.
" 'Helping that activity will be an eastward shift of the high-pressure heat dome,' AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. 'The circulation around the high will help to pump moisture in more freely over much of the West beginning this weekend and more so next week.'
"Many of the early storms over the Southwest may bring little or no rain but gusty #winds and #lightning strikes. The gusty winds can kick up considerable amounts of #dust, creating large #DustStorms or #haboobs. Lightning strikes with no rain can set off scores of new #wildfires, while gusty winds around the storms can fan the new fires and existing large blazes.
"The nature of the heat dome will trap smoke in the region, which can reduce the visibility, create a hazy or milky-looking sky and create #AirQuality dangers for some individuals. "
#AQI #USWx #ClimateChange #Heatwave #Storms #WesternUS #ExtremeWeather
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#Colorado residents face earliest #WaterRestrictions ever — a harbinger of worse to come
Nearly every snow basin in the Mountain West had one of its warmest winters on record and is well behind normal for water supplies.
March 27, 2026, 9:11 AM EDT
By Evan Bush"As a result of a #SnowDrought and a #HeatWave that have both set records, some Colorado residents face the earliest restrictions on their water use ever imposed.
"#DenverWater announced Wednesday that it is seeking a 20% cut in water use, asking people to turn off automatic watering systems until mid-May and restricting the watering of trees and shrubs to twice a week.
" 'The situation is quite serious,' said Todd Hartman, a spokesperson for the utility. 'We’re in such a dire situation that we could be coming back to the public in two or three months and saying you’re limited to one day a week.'
"It is the earliest in the year that Denver Water has ever issued a restriction, Hartman said.
"Colorado’s #snowpack peaked at extremely low levels on March 12 — nearly a month earlier than usual — then cratered during the recent heat wave that cooked nearly every state in the West.
" 'We already had the lowest snowpack we’ve seen since at least 1981, and now, with the heat wave conditions, we’ve already lost about 40% of the statewide snowpack' since the March 12 peak, said Peter Goble, Colorado’s assistant state climatologist. 'Conditions are looking more like late April or early May.' "
#USWx #WesternUS #Drought #ClimateCrisis #WaterIsLife #ClimateChange
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#Colorado residents face earliest #WaterRestrictions ever — a harbinger of worse to come
Nearly every snow basin in the Mountain West had one of its warmest winters on record and is well behind normal for water supplies.
March 27, 2026, 9:11 AM EDT
By Evan Bush"As a result of a #SnowDrought and a #HeatWave that have both set records, some Colorado residents face the earliest restrictions on their water use ever imposed.
"#DenverWater announced Wednesday that it is seeking a 20% cut in water use, asking people to turn off automatic watering systems until mid-May and restricting the watering of trees and shrubs to twice a week.
" 'The situation is quite serious,' said Todd Hartman, a spokesperson for the utility. 'We’re in such a dire situation that we could be coming back to the public in two or three months and saying you’re limited to one day a week.'
"It is the earliest in the year that Denver Water has ever issued a restriction, Hartman said.
"Colorado’s #snowpack peaked at extremely low levels on March 12 — nearly a month earlier than usual — then cratered during the recent heat wave that cooked nearly every state in the West.
" 'We already had the lowest snowpack we’ve seen since at least 1981, and now, with the heat wave conditions, we’ve already lost about 40% of the statewide snowpack' since the March 12 peak, said Peter Goble, Colorado’s assistant state climatologist. 'Conditions are looking more like late April or early May.' "
#USWx #WesternUS #Drought #ClimateCrisis #WaterIsLife #ClimateChange
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“the Colorado River system is in a state of collapse. It is a collapse hastened by climate change but also a crisis of management.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/a-water-war-is-brewing-over-the-dwindling-colorado-river
#climatechange #WaterWars #WesternUS #JohnWesleyPowell #agriculture #aquifer #drainagebasin #watermanagement #coloradoriver #WaterFootprint
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“the Colorado River system is in a state of collapse. It is a collapse hastened by climate change but also a crisis of management.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/a-water-war-is-brewing-over-the-dwindling-colorado-river
#climatechange #WaterWars #WesternUS #JohnWesleyPowell #agriculture #aquifer #drainagebasin #watermanagement #coloradoriver #WaterFootprint